Tag: Stanford Football

Pac-12 football’s greatest moments: Stanford slays Big Ten giants in 1971, 1972

1970 #Stanford Heisman winner Jim Plunkett took down No. 2 and unbeaten Ohio State in the 1971 Rose Bowl.

Stanford could soon be out the door to the ACC. We will have to wait to find out. However, nothing will change the reality that the Indians — as they were known in 1970 and 1971 — won the Pacific-8 Conference championship and then beat the giants of the Big Ten in the 1971 and 1972 Rose Bowls.

USC was a dynastic power in this era, but the Trojans had a brief lull in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. USC finished in the top four of the national polls in three straight seasons, from 1967 through 1969. The Trojans made the Rose Bowl in four straight seasons, from 1966 through 1969. Mike Garrett won the school’s first Heisman Trophy in 1965. O.J. Simpson followed in 1968. USC won the national title in 1967 and played Ohio State for the 1968 championship in the Granddaddy. West Coast football was dominated by USC in the late 1960s. However, the 1970 team stumbled to a 6-4-1 mark, and the 1971 team did the same.

Stanford stepped through the portal and seized the opportunity to play in Pasadena. The Indians won consecutive conference titles. In 1970, quarterback Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy.

When Stanford entered the 1971 Rose Bowl, it faced No. 2 and unbeaten Ohio State at the height of its powers under legendary head coach Woody Hayes. Stanford was ranked outside the top 10. However, the Indians posted 14 fourth-quarter points to stun the Buckeyes in Pasadena, 27-17.

The next year, Stanford was able to repeat as conference champion with USC still fumbling around. This time, the Indians met Michigan and its own legendary coach, Bo Schembechler, in the Granddaddy. Michigan was ranked No. 4, and Stanford was again ranked outside the top 10 heading into the game.

It didn’t matter. Stanford prevailed 13-12 in a wild sequence of events late in regulation. Michigan took a 12-10 lead on a very controversial safety with just over three minutes left. Forward progress should have been ruled on the play and Stanford should have had the ball on its own 3-yard line. The Indians were in huge trouble, but they got a defensive stop after the free kick. They drove three-fourths of the field and were able to kick a 31-yard field goal for the win with 12 seconds remaining.

The Pac-8 regularly won the Rose Bowl in the 1960s and 1970s, but most of the time it was USC doing the winning. The 1971 and 1972 Rose Bowls showed the non-USC programs in the West could hold their own against Ohio State and Michigan.

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ACC closing in on adding three programs, per reports

Reports suggest that the ACC will be adding Stanford, Cal, and SMU in the near future.

College football realignment has been looming over the ACC for some time, and it sounds like things are heading toward a change in the conference. 

The conference recently fell one vote short of adding Stanford and Cal, with four programs voting no to adding the two West Coast schools. Even so, reports released Wednesday that the ACC is expected to add Stanford, Cal, and SMU to the conference. 

Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted Wednesday that he was ” told Cal, Stanford, and SMU are in the process of finalizing a deal to join the ACC in football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball…” ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported that the conference was back in the works of adding programs shortly before Silver’s news. 

There are no guarantees, but things look to be going towards expansion in the ACC. 

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All-time Pac-12 football moments: One of the first was the 1925 Rose Bowl

On a list of the 100 most significant CFB games of all time, the 1925 Rose Bowl — Stanford vs @IrishWireND — has to be included.

When you go deep into the history of the Pac-12 Conference and reflect on what it gave to college football, one of the earliest big moments has to be the 1925 Rose Bowl.

It’s true that the Pacific Coast Conference team in that game, Stanford, lost. Yet, the 1925 Granddaddy remains — and will always be — one of the most celebrated and transformative college football games ever played. It wasn’t a great game. Notre Dame beat Stanford, 27-10. It was, however, enormously significant.

Fighting Irish Wire notes how this game cemented the 1924 Notre Dame team as one of the best ever:

“Notre Dame won the Rose Bowl against Stanford on Jan. 1, 1925 with the famous Four Horseman backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley and Elmer Layden and head coach Knute Rockne. The fearsome backfield combo led the Irish to a 10-0 season and the Rose Bowl victory would be the last time Notre Dame appeared in a bowl game for over 40 seasons.”

If Notre Dame lost this game, the Four Horseman mythology created by legendary college football writer Grantland Rice wouldn’t have endured nearly to the same extent it did.

Notre Dame’s Rose Bowl trip — the only time the Irish have ever played this game in Pasadena (they played Alabama in the 2020 Rose Bowl in Arlington, Texas, due to the pandemic) — established the Irish as a national brand. This game helped set up the long-running matchups Notre Dame has with both Stanford and USC.

This game, in addition to elevating the Four Horsemen to an exalted place, also had the enormous historical weight of including two of the sport’s most iconic coaches. Notre Dame was led by the unforgettable Knute Rockne. Stanford was coached by a man you might have heard of: Glenn “Pop” Warner. Two men with such considerable reach into the sport of football dueled in a Rose Bowl. This game had so much history and impact that we’re still talking about it nearly 100 years later.

Stanford lost, but the Pac-12 witnessed one of its biggest early moments as a conference.

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ACC Presidents delay expansion voting as disagreements continue, per reports

The ACC’s future is still being determined as expansion discussions have been met with disagreements.

College football’s conference expansion and realignment has continued with the ACC Presidents meeting Wednesday to discuss the possible additions of Stanford, Cal, and SMU.

According to reports from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, there is still disagreement among the conference, with at least four schools pushing back on these additions. For a vote to pass, the conference would need at least 12 of 15 schools to agree.

There is still hope for expansion with expiations that they will meet again soon to further discuss the situation. However, there are also reports that this is a done deal, and the conference will not add any other schools.

According to reports from Larry Williams of Tiger Illustrated, he has been told that ACC expansion will not be moving forward, noting that “this sounds done.”

It is difficult to say what direction the ACC is going. Brandon Marcello of 247Sports reported the same as Dellenger but noted the conference presidents will meet Thursday or Friday to further discuss the situation.

For now, we will have to wait and see, as the next few days should clear up a lot of uncertainty.

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College Sports Roundup: The latest on the Pac-12, USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, and more from the College Sports Wires

The options for the Pac-12’s remaining teams come to light, the 2023 preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll was released, and more from the College Wires.

The potential options for the Pac-12’s four remaining teams, aptly nicknamed the “Pac-4,” continue to form.

On Monday afternoon, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on one of those potential options. In his report, Thamel said on X, (formerly known as Twitter, ) “In the next 24 hours, there are two calls for the ACC to vet and have early exploratory discussions on the potential addition of Cal and Stanford. One is for ACC athletic directors and the other for the league’s presidents and chancellors.” He also noted that it is a “fluid landscape for the four leftover Pac-12 schools” and that many options are being discussed.

247Sports’ Brandon Marcello had a similar report on X on Monday evening but added an important note that the ACC is primarily looking at Cal and Stanford.

If Cal and Stanford were to join the ACC, there would have to be quite a few issues to work out for both universities, similar to those that the Big Ten had to consider when first adding USC and UCLA last year, such as travel expenses, especially for non-revenue sports. Cal and Stanford would also likely need to be willing to take a reduced share of the ACC’s revenue sharing, according to Pete Thamel’s full report on ESPN.

As Thamel also noted, while the additions of Cal and Stanford would not offer any significant financial gain for the ACC, it would supply the conference with two more highly prestigious academic institutions. Both schools would fit well with institutions like Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.

If Cal and Stanford did join the ACC, it would leave just Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12. There were no further reports regarding the future of either university and its conference affiliation. The Mountain West, however, appears to be the most likely option for both universities following a report from The Athletic’s Max Olson on Sunday, which stated the Big 12 was “not discussing adding Oregon State or San Diego State at this time.”

ACC is exploring the potential addition of Stanford and Cal, per report

According to reports from Pete Thamel, the ACC is exploring the addition of Stanford and Cal.

College football realignment continues to reshape the game’s landscape, and with the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 already adding teams from the Pac-12, the ACC is doing the same. 

According to reports from Pete Thamel, in the next 24 hours there are two calls for the ACC to vet and have early exploratory discussions on the potential addition of Cal and Stanford. Thamel stated that One is for ACC athletic directors and the other for the league’s presidents and chancellors. 

Big news in the conference, the ACC presidents met last Friday and “seriously explored” adding 5-7 Pac-12 schools as the Pac-12’s future is in question. While it was assumed these conversations were over with the Big 12 adding Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah but that is not the case with this latest news.

We now wait for the next report on the ACC’s next steps.

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College Sports Roundup: Cal and Stanford’s futures, Johnny Manziel documentary, and more from the College Wires

Cal and Stanford’s futures remain uncertain after the Pac-12’s collapse, a Johnny Manziel documentary is being released this week, and more from the College Wires.

After an eventful Friday that changed the college sports landscape forever, only four schools remain in the Pac-12 Conference.

With Oregon and Washington leaving for the Big Ten while the trio Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah leaving for the Big 12, California, Stanford, Oregon State, and Washington State remain in the Pac-12.

The future of those four institutions and their athletic departments are much different than they were just a few days ago.

What does the future hold for these four universities and their athletic departments? That’s one of the major questions coming out of the recent conference realignment.

Oregon State and Washington State perhaps have the most straightforward answers.

Joining the Mountain West Conference, while not ideal, could make plenty of sense. While it would still mean a sizeable cut in television revenue and other sources of revenue sharing, both universities would have a chance for immediate success, especially in football. There’s also a possibility that they could receive an invite from the Big 12, albeit likely while having to take a smaller cut of the conference’s revenue sharing.

Cal and Stanford, however, are in much more complex situations. Beyond an athletics standpoint, both schools are highly proud academic institutions. Joining the Mountain West from an academic perspective may not appeal to either university. Additionally, for both schools, football, despite being a revenue sport, is not a priority; their priorities beyond education are often Olympic sports.

For example, the Stanford athletic department has historically been one of the best athletic departments in the country for most of the last 30 years. Since the first Directors’ Cup was awarded in 1993, Stanford, thanks to the success of Cardinal Olympic sports, has won 26 Directors’ Cups. For Stanford, Cardinal football is simply a tool to generate the financial capital to fund their successful Olympic sports programs.

Cal faces many of the same challenges that Stanford does. Their revenue sports have had little recent success, while their non-revenue sports tend to have greater success on the field. Of course, the ability to field other successful programs is limited without football.

With the Pac-12’s collapse, both schools likely would’ve preferred to be invited to the Big Ten as well. Right now, that does not appear likely, though it shouldn’t be ruled out in future realignment. Moving to the Mountain West would probably be the easiest. Still, it would require both institutions to be willing to “associate” with universities that are very different academically.

Could they go independent? The answer is certainly not for Cal, but it would be much more financially feasible for Stanford. The final option would be to limit the expenses that football would cost the universities by either dropping the football programs to the FCS level or completely shutting the programs down. However, that would also mean losing a great deal of athletic department revenue in the process.

Overall, Cal and Stanford find themselves as two of the few true losers in this wave of college football realignment and will have extremely tough decisions to make going forward.

Stanford going independent in football could happen and would make sense

Stanford women’s basketball needs a conference, but football could be indie. Here’s a schedule the Cardinal could create:

Stanford women’s basketball, an elite program for decades, needs a conference. Basketball teams need conferences to fill a majority of their schedule and participate in a conference tournament. They also need a conference for splitting and generating revenue. Football, however, doesn’t necessarily operate the same way. Just ask Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish aren’t going to the Big Ten. They don’t need to. Why would they split Big Ten TV revenue with almost 20 other schools when they have their own NBC TV deal and get every cent of it without sharing? Notre Dame can also customize its schedule. Given its national brand and identity, it can command top dollar. It is working well for the Irish, and it will continue to work well for them.

Stanford doesn’t have the brand Notre Dame does, but Stanford also has a brand that is more valuable than BYU’s. BYU was independent for a number of years before finding a Big 12 home. BYU played its own customized schedule much as Notre Dame did, but BYU was treated as a Group of Five team more than a Power Five team the way Notre Dame was.

Stanford would be treated as a Power Five team more than a Group of Five team if it goes independent in football — not as prestigious as Notre Dame, but more prestigious than BYU.

Below, you will find some reactions to Stanford being left in the cold with the other members of the so-called “Pac-4” after Friday’s Pac-12 bloodbath. After those reactions, we will present a 12-game football schedule Stanford could realistically produce as an independent, creating a mix of challenging games and attractive TV properties ESPN would pay for. (We refer to ESPN since Stanford going to the Big Ten would mean Fox exposure. If Stanford goes indie, ESPN would be its most likely broadcaster.)

Here we go:

USC-Stanford game on September 9 gets its TV broadcast team

USC’s Week 2 home game versus Stanford on September 9 in the Coliseum has its TV network, announce crew, and time slot.

The USC Trojans begin the year with a home game against San Jose State in Week Zero and then a home game against Nevada on September 2 in Week 1 of the season. The next game after that is Stanford on September 9. Of course, Stanford returning to Los Angeles brings many memories of Clay Helton’s final game as head coach, one in which the Cardinal won. The night led to a new era of Trojan football once Helton was fired.

This time around, the situation is very different, and this year’s Stanford-USC meeting will be a 7:30 p.m. Pacific time kickoff, and broadcast on Fox.

The broadcast team for this game will be Tim Brando and Spence Tillman. These two will also be doing Ohio at San Diego State in Week Zero, Central Michigan at Michigan State on September 1, and then TCU at Houston the week after watching the Trojans, so there are plenty of interesting battles for them to see live in the early weeks of the season.

It’s an early-season night game for the Trojans against Stanford. They should win handily. The week after they have an off week before facing Arizona State on September 23 in Week 4.

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Hawaii Football: First Look At The Stanford Cardinal

The Warriors host the rebuilding Cardinal in non-conference action this fall. Here’s a first look at Stanford.

Hawaii Football: First Look at the Stanford Cardinal

The Warriors host the rebuilding Cardinal in non-conference action this fall. Here’s a first look at Stanford.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

A new era at Stanford begins on the Hawaiian islands.

Hawaii Football: First Look at 2023 Non-conference Opponents

Vanderbilt | Stanford | UAlbany | Oregon | New Mexico State

College football has long been ruled by its bluebloods, but the rise of the Stanford Cardinal just over a decade ago proved that just about any program can move toward prominence with the right people in place. Beginning with Jim Harbaugh and continuing with David Shaw, the Cardinal followed a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons with ten straight winning campaigns from 2009 to 2018.

Everything ends, though, which is why the Cardinal are turning to a new head coach to rebuild the roster for another run at revelance in the near future. For 2023, though, it marks a perfect opportunity for the Hawaii Warriors to prove they’ve progressed in their own rebuild under head coach Timmy Chang.

Location: Palo Alto, California

Conference: Pac-12

Series History: Stanford leads the all-time series against Hawaii, 3-0.

2022 Record: 3-9 (1-8 Pac-12)

Head Coach: Troy Taylor (first year, 30-8 at Sacramento State). Shaw’s tenure was far and away the most successful in program history, punctuated by two Rose Bowl victories in three appearances, but the cracks began to show in 2019 when his Cardinal had their first losing season on his watch. Things didn’t get much better from there and narrow wins against Notre Dame and Arizona State, by a combined three points, kept Stanford’s record from being much worse.

Now it’s Taylor’s turn at the helm and he brings a strong track record with him from Sacramento State, where in four seasons his Hornets twice clinched a share of the Big Sky title and won it outright a third time. He’ll have his work cut out for him right away, however, as Stanford projects to be 95th by preseason SP+ and returns only 35% of last season’s production.

Key Players

Benjamin Yurosek, TE

Stanford has a quarterback quandry on its hands right now, but whoever wins that job will have at least one reliable target to whom they can throw. Over the last two seasons, Yurosek has caught 92 passes for 1,103 yards and five touchdowns, earning an all-Pac 12 second-team nod in 2022. At 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds, he’ll be a focal point of the revamped Cardinal offense in some capacity.

Joshua Karty, K

For as many questions that exist elsewhere on the roster, Stanford might just have the best kicker in the country. A first-team all-conference selection and a Lou Groza Award finalist in 2022, Karty made all 18 of his field goal attempts, including 13 from 40 or more yards, to become the first kicker to be perfect on that many attempts since 2013.

David Bailey, LB

A four-star recruit from California high school power Mater Dei, Bailey didn’t need much time to find the field as a true freshman and he became the first such Stanford player to start a season opener under David Shaw. He appeared in 11 games altogether, starting nine of them, and made 46 total tackles while leading the Cardinal with 8.5 tackles for loss and chipping in 2.5 sacks. Bigger things could be ahead for the Irvine native.

Jaxson Moi, DE

The lone 300-pound defender on the current roster, Moi was another Cardinal true freshman who had a busy 2022. Unlike Bailey, he only made one start but did appear in all 12 contests and played slightly more snaps, anyway, collecting 22 total tackles, 4.5 TFLs, and two pass breakups in 453 reps. Moi should be the linchpin of a young defensive line going forward.

Gaethen Bernadel, LB

Stanford doesn’t take advantage of the transfer portal very often, but recruiting Bernadel from Florida International could be a big deal for the defense. Last season, he finished sixth among all Conference USA defenders with 103 total tackles and added eight TFLs and 1.5 sacks for good measure.

Overview:

Offense

The last several years of the David Shaw era saw a steady decline in Stanford’s offensive efficacy and reached new lows in his final year. They ranked 94th among FBS teams in averaging 5.27 yards per play, 102nd in earning 40% of available yards per drive, and 108th with 1.65 points per drive.

Unfortunately, the Cardinal doesn’t have a ton of definitive playmakers whom Taylor can lean upon. For instance, at a minimum, the battle to replace quarterback Tanner McKee could involve Ari Patu, who has spent the last two seasons as a backup; Ashton Daniels, who played in ten games as a true freshman; and Justin Lamson, a Syracuse transfer.

Things are a little rosier at running back, where injuries took a toll last season. EJ Smith, the son of NFL legend Emmitt Smith, began last year as the starter and ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries, but he played in just two games before a season-ending ailment. Casey Filkins (800 all-purpose yards, five total touchdowns) took over from there before another serious hurt ended his year. Assuming both are healthy, they could see a lot of work.

Outside of Yurosek, the passing game doesn’t have many answers. Senior John Humphreys (29 catches, 348 yards, one touchdown) is the veteran wide receiver of note, but this is a unit that could skew pretty young with players like sophomore Mudia Rueben and true freshmen Tiger Bachmeier and Ahmari Borden all theoretically capable of carving a role to see 20-30 targets.

That’s also true of an offensive line which brings back just one starter from 2022: senior guard Levi Rogers. The transfer portal could pay dividends here, however, as Stanford was able to bring in Harvard tackle Alec Bank and Penn guard Trevor Mayberry, both of whom were multi-year starters in the Ivy League. It could be tough to improve on last year’s finish, when the Cardinal allowed an 8% sack rate (98th in FBS) and a 19.9% stuff rate (102nd).

Defense

Where the offense limped along in Shaw’s final year, the bottom really fell out of his defense. Stanford coughed up 3.04 points per drive and 59.7% of available yards per drive, both of which ranked 124th in the country and were the worst such marks since BCFToys.com’s Brian Fremeau began tracking those metrics in 2007. The good news is that last year’s trials by fire gave Taylor’s new crew a bit of much-needed seasoning.

In the front seven, Bailey, Moi, and Bernadel headline a group that returns three of four starters on the defensive line and at least a little bit of returning experience at linebacker. For the former, defensive tackles Tobin Phillips (34 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks) and Anthony Franklin help anchor the interior while, for the latter, Tristan Sinclair returns after starting a pair of November contests.

As for the secondary, well… that’s anyone’s guess. Senior safety Alaka’i Gilman, and fifth-year cornerback Zahran Manley provide some veteran experience with seven combined starts across the last two seasons, but Stanford could easily decide upon a youth movement headed up by the likes of Colin Wright and Jimmy Wyrick. Considering this unit was actually a relative strength in 2022 — Stanford led the Pac-12 in opponents’ completion percentage and finished fourth in allowing 7.2 yards per attempt — such uncertainty doesn’t bode well for their chances of repeating that.

Early Prediction

Both teams are going to have plenty of questions on their plate headed into this Week 1 matchup, but Stanford is in a much worse place, at present, compared to Vanderbilt a year ago. It strikes me as exactly the kind of game where defense could be optional, which could make it the optimal proving ground for Hawaii’s newly revamped run-and-shoot offense.

Hawaii 38, Stanford 35

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